Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Escape from Paris by Carolyn Hart

If you read Carolyn Hart's suspense novel, Escape from Paris, sometime in the past, you never really read it as she meant it to be read. The original publication was cut from 95,000 words to 55,000. Now, this work of her heart has been republished as it was written. It's a fascinating story of courage in World War II, the courage of people willing to risk their lives to save others.

The poster was all over Nazi-occupied Paris. "ALL PERSONS HARBORING ENGLISH SOLDIERS MUST DELIVER SAME TO THE NEAREST KOMMANDNATUR NOT LATER THAN 20 OCTOBER 1940. THOSE PERSONS WHO CONTINUE TO HARBOUR ENGLISHMEN AFTER THIS DATE WITHOUT HAVING NOTIFIED THE AUTHORITIES WILL BE SHOT." Nineteen-year-old Linda never meant to bring danger to her family. One day, though, the American filled in for her sister Eleanor and visited the hospitals under the Red Cross flag, taking small gifts for the soldiers. When a British soldier asked for help, saying he'd healed enough that he was going to be sent to The Citadel, and then to a prisoner of war camp in Germany, Linda impulsively agreed to help him escape. She never thought of the danger she was bringing to her sister and thirteen-year-old nephew. But, Eleanor and Robert were up to the task, determined to help the man escape.

Eleanor hatched a plan, rented an apartment, then found the right person to get Michael out of the city. Father Laurent helped, but he was part of a much bigger plan. RAF fliers had been shot down in Northern France, and Father Laurent needed help hiding them, in groups of four or five, until he could send them down the chain that would eventually get them to Spain, then Gibraltar. But, it w was dangerous, and the two sisters knew they could be arrested at any time, and shot.

Linda had only come to France to visit her older sister after their parents were killed in a plane crash. Then, when Eleanor's husband disappeared after Dunkirk, Linda didn't want to leave Eleanor and Robert alone. Now, she was caught up in events that terrified her, hiding British fliers, wondering who might spy on them and turn them in to the Nazis.

It's hard to forget the courage of those people who worked right under the noses of the Nazis to help soldiers escape. And, Hart shows us the conditions they lived under. Those of us in the U.S. forget about the lack of food, the curfews, the suspicion. Escape from Paris takes readers into the heart of Paris, in a story told from multiple viewpoints, that of RAF fliers, living in fear of capture; the view of Nazis, hoping to capture those soldiers; and the views of Eleanor and Linda, two American women determined to do their part, to do the right thing to save lives. Carolyn Hart's Escape from Paris is a spellbinding story of intrigue and romance in occupied Paris.

2 comments:

Looks like a fabulous book. I LOVE books that take place during the World War II era, especially action adventure books. I will definitely have to check this one out!

Another great book that you may want to check out sometime is J. Thomas Shaw's latest book, "The Rx Factor." I found it to be an intriguing medical thriller, with lots of action and adventure, with a touch of romance!

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I have been a library manager/administrator for over 30 years, in Ohio, Florida, Arizona, and, now, Indiana. Winner of the 2011 Arizona Library Association Outstanding Library Service Award. I am a contributing Book Reviewer for Library Journal, Mystery Readers Journal, ReadertoReader.com and VibrantNation.com. Author of the "Mystery Fiction" chapter in Genreflecting: A Guide to Popular Reading Interests (7th ed.) Winner of the 2009 and 2010 Spinetingler Awards for Best Reviewer.

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